There’s no escaping the growing emphasis on health and wellness among American consumers. And food manufacturers and retailers are responding by creating healthier products and packaging those products so that health benefits are in the forefront of consumers’ minds. We first reported on this trend in the April 2005 issue of BRANDPACKAGING.

Recent studies show that fewer than 15 percent of elementary age school children eat the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. So Del Monte Foods and nonprofit educational organization Sesame Workshop have teamed up to launch a new line of Del Monte products designed to promote healthier eating habits among the nation’s children. The collaboration is part of Sesame Workshop’s “Healthy Habits for Life Initiative”.

Sesame Street characters will appear on select Del Monte products starting in September. Del Monte vegetables featuring Sesame Street characters will be offered in specialty four-packs in grocery stores, and eight- and twelve-packs in select club retailers. Packaging will feature one of the three characters—Elmo with Green Beans, Grover with Sweet Peas and, in a switch for the blue creature, Cookie Monster with Corn—along with on-pack coloring activities developed by Sesame Workshop. BP